XMetaL 1.0 - HTML with Style | 6

XMetaL 1.0

Rules

XMetaL includes a concept called "Rules." Rules files are
essentially DTDs that are compiled into a proprietary, binary
format. I am unsure of the usefullness of this. SoftQuad
claims that rules files are faster than DTDs, but I've been
using DTDs instead of rules and processing seems to be
lightning-fast as rules are. SoftQuad also claims that rules
can be used to "hide" the DTD and disallow editing of the DTD
by users, but I'm not sure how this would work, as users can
specify their own DTD at any time. DTDs can be compiled into
rules files using the Rules Maker, a separate program.

Element and Attribute names and
descriptions

XMetaL allows system administrators to provide alternative
names for elements that are more human friendly. These names
are displayed instead of the actual names in various places
and allow users to understand what is going on without
knowing the element names. For instance, after customization,
the element name displayed below the document window can be
changed (for an HTML document) from something like "HTML /
BODY / DIV / H1 / EM" to "Document / Body / Section / Level 1
Heading / Emphasized Text", which can be more useful.
Descriptions can also be given for attributes and elements
that give users clues as to how to use them.

Spell Checking and Thesaurus

XMetaL comes with a built-in spell checker and thesaurus
that can be used to spell-check and enrich
documents. Dictionaries in American and British English,
French and German are provided.

Tables

XMetaL includes support for tables, in that it allows
certain element structures to be displayed and edited as
tables in Normal and Tags On view. Unfortunately, XMetaL
will only recognize the HTML table model and the CALS table
model, so you cannot define your own elements as table
elements - you can only use the the elements used by these
table models.

Database Import and Scripting

XMetaL allows you to easily use ODBC access to insert a
table containing data from any database into your
document. It also allows you to use COM and the Windows
Scripting Engine to extend XMetaL's functionality using any
programming and scripting language. This means that
administrators can, if they take the time, integrate XMetaL
into any document management system by writing scripts or
component that do things such as storing documents in a
central repository, processing documents for things such as
indexing and searching, printing documents through a DSSSL
engine and so on.

URL: http://www.webreference.com/html/watch/xmetal/5.html

Produced by Stephanos PiperoglouCreated: October 20, 1999Revised: October 28, 1999